"Canterbury Tales"

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how Geoffrey Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales" occupies a pivotal position in English literature because of its colorful characters and their interesting stories, which can be read as commentaries on society and religion of 14th century England. In particular, it looks at how it is an interesting commentary on various types of moral values that people possessed by discussing how most of the characters in the book are plagued by some moral problem that they are blissfully unaware of and how they firmly believe they are doing nothing wrong. It shows how these issues indicate that orthodox moral values were rapidly eroding in 14th century England, and the tattered moral fabric had resulted in severe corruption in all sections of society.

From the Paper:

"The only three women to make an appearance in the book are the Wife of Bath, The Prioress and her companion The Nun. While the Nun is a smaller character, which occupies an insignificant place in the book, the two other women manage to attract readers' interest because of their contrasting personalities and their conflicting beliefs and values. But while on the surface their views differ strikingly, somewhere deep down, both females are wrestling with some moral issues. The only difference is that Wife of Bath acknowledges those problems and has set her mind on defying society while the Prioress wants to conform to societal norms and fails to see the moral problems bothering her."

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